Hay-rack.



B. MARTIN.

HAY RACK.

APPLIOATION FILED mms, 1910.

Patented Sept. 12,1911.

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Attorneys B. MARTIN.

HAY RACK.

APYLIGATION FILED JUNE8,1910.

1,008,367. Patented Sept. 12,1911.

l 2 sums-SHEET 2 Ji Zj/ if jf if? 5" ff j? f j J if iw, WitnessesInventor by I// l l l Attorneys BRADY MARTIN, 0F LANSING, MICHIGAN.

HAY-RACK.

Specication of Letters latent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1911.

Application filed June 8, 1910. Serial No. 565,739.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, BRADY MARTIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lansing, in the county of Ingham and State of Michigan, haveinvented a new and useful Hay-Rack, of which the following is aspecification.

It is the object of this invention to provide a platform for a vehicle,so constructed that, at the will of the operator, the same may bemanipulated to form a rack, to house stock or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hinge of novel andimproved construction, whereby the side boards of the vehicle may bepivotally connected with the platform portion thereof, this hinge beingunited with the platform in such a manner that the side boards mayreadily be removed.

Another object of the invention is to provide an end gate of novel andimproved construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for connectingand assembling the constituent elements of the structure, and to improvegenerally, the construction of devices of the class herein described.

In the drawings-Figure 1 sho-ws the invention in top plan, parts beingbroken away and sectioned; a side board being up wardly disposed uponone side of the line A-B, and turned down into alinement with the ioorof the platform upon the other side of the line A-B; Fig. 2 is a sideelevation; certain minor details being omitted in Figs. 2 and 1, owingto the small scale upon which said figures are drawn; Fig. 3 is an endelevation of the front end of the device; Fig. 1 is an elevation of therear end of the device; Fig. 5 is a fragmental side elevation, designedto delineate with particularity, the manner in which the hinge wherebythe side boards are connected with the platform, is constructed; andFig. 6 is a detail perspective of one of the plates which enter into thehinged union between the side boards and the platform.

In the drawings, a wagon boX 1 is shown. Upon this wagon boX 1 thecombined stock rack and platform of my invention is adapted t0 berested. The platform portion of the device includes a plurality oftransverse sills 2, to which the floor 3 is secured. To-

the ends of the sills 2, side stakes 4 are pivotally connected.

The manner of pivotally connecting the side stakes 4L with the sills 2is as follows. By referring to the dotted line position of the sidestakes 4 in Fig. 3, it will be seen that the said side stakes areadapted to be turned downwardly, into terminal abutment with the sills2. Presupposing that the sills and the side stakes are in the positionsdelineated in dotted line in Fig. 3, the upper and adjacent end faces ofthe sills and the side stakes are grooved, asA denoted by the numeral 5,seen to best advantage in Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawings. Into thesegrooves 5 of the side stakes l and the sills 2, plates 6, preferably ofthe form shown in Fig. 6,

are inserted, the lower edges of the said plates being curved slightly,as denoted by the numeral 7 in Fig. 6, to facilitate the ready operationof the hinge, and to prevent the sills and the side stakes l from beingcut away too great an extent, to accommodate the extremities of theplates 6. In one end of the plate 6 there are several openings S. VTheseopenings 8 are adapted to receive securing elements such as bolts 9,

which are mounted in the side stakes 4.

Adjacent the other' end of the plate 6 there is an opening 10.

As seen to best advantage in Fig. 2 of the drawings, a tie bolt 11 isadapted to be eX- tended the entirelength of the-device, the

the sills2 when the sills and the side stakes 4 are alined as shown inFig. 3. Near their ends, the straps 12 are provided with openings, inwhich the tie bolts 11 may be mounted; and thus, the straps 12 serve notonly as reinforcing elements for the 'sills 2, but, as well, as bearingsfor the tie bolt 11, the tie bolt being prevented by the straps 12 fromsplitting or injuring the ends of the sills 2. The adjacent ends of thesills 2 and the side stakes 4c are beveled, as denoted by the numeral15, and in the side stakes 4 there are shoulders 16, adapted to overlapand to abut aga-inst the ends 17 of the sills 2 when, as shownin dottedlines in Fig. 3, the side stakes t are swung downwardly into hori-Zontal alinement with the sills 2. It will be seen that the foregoingconstruction results in the formation of a protrudingangle in the outerend face of each of the sills 2, this protruding angle adapted to bereceived within a rentrant angle in the corresponding end face of each`of the stakes 4, when the stakes and the sills are alined. The sideboards 1 8 are secured to the side stakes'4. Y 'By referringparticularly to Fig. 2, it will be seen that spaced sockets 19 aremounted upon the side boards 18, adjacent the upper edges vof the sideboards. These sockets 19 are adapted to receive extension frames,denoted generally in Fig. 2 of the drawings by the numeral 2 0. Theseextension frames 20 comprise longitudinal bars 21, connected by crossbars 2 2, the lower'ends of the cross bars w22 being adapted to beinserted into the sockets 1 f The gate whereby the forward end of thedevice is closed comprises, as seen tobest p advantage in Fig. 3, an endboard 23, across which extend, transversely, standards 24, the lowerends of which are adapted to be inserted into sockets 2 5, secured toone ofthe end sills'2, and likewise inserted into sockets 26, mountedupon the wagon box 1. The standards 24 are united at their upper ends byspaced cross bars 27, and likewise by a single intermediate cross bar28. An auxiliary frame is provided, the same including a y pair ofuprights 29, united, adjacent their upper ends bycrossbars 30. Theuprights 29 may, as outlined in Fig. 3, and as seen more clearly in Fig,1, be thrust downwardly between the cross bars 27 into engagement withthe sockets 3 2, secured to the end board 23 adjacent the upper edgethereof. Pins V`31 unite the cross bars 27 between the up, rights 29,and the pins serve to strengthen the mounting of the auxiliary frames.Hools33 are pivotally mounted upon the standards 24 the hooks 33 beingadapted to engage eyes 54 inserted into. t-he side stakes 4 which arelocated at .the end of the rack.

Passing now to a description of the end gate which is mounted in therear end of the rack, and referring particularly to Fig. 4, it. will beseen that this end gate includes ai frame, compris-ing upright siderails 34, and parallel uprights 35, located between the side rails 34.The upper ends of the side rails 3 4; and the uprights 3.5 are united bya top bar 36. The spacesexisting between the lower portions of the siderails 3.4 and the uprights are bridged by filling plates 3,7. lnto theframe 0f the endy gate, constructed herenbefore described,aswngingbarrier sntroduced, the saine consisting of. a pair of uprights38., connected ad.- jacent their upper ends by a cross bar 39.

' The lower ends ofthe uprights 38 are united by an end board 40, thebarrier as thus constructed, being adapted to swing above a sill 41uniting the upright 35 at one side of the end gate frame with theupright 35 at the other side thereof. Secured in vertically spacedrelation upon the remote edges of the barrier, and preferably mountedupon the uprights 38, are eyes 42. These eyes 42 cooperate with eyes 43mounted upon the uprights 35 of the end gate frame. Through the eyes 42and 43 upon one side of the dcvice, a pin 44 may be removably thrust, asimilar pin 44 being adapted to be mounted in a like. manner, in thoseeyes 42 and 43 -which are located upon the opposite side of thestructure.

The end gate which is shown in Fig. 4, is held in place by the hook andeye connection 33, 54, the sockets 25, 26, described in connection withFig. 3, being likewise employed in the form of end gates shown in Fig.l4.

When a broad platform is desired, the side stakes 4 together with theside boards 18 which they carry, may be turned downwardly intohorizontal alinement with the sills 2, as shown in dotted lines in Fig.3, and as depicted in the uppermost portion of Fig. 1. When, however, astock rack is desired, the side stakes 4 and the side boards 18 may beturned upwardly, into the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the floor 3of the platform being notched, as denoted by the numeral`45 in'Fig. 1,to accommodate. the plates 6 whereby the side stakes 4 are hinged to thesills 2. The two end gates delineated in Figs. 3 and 4 may then bemounted in place, the hooks 33 being engaged in the eyes 54, to upholdthe side boards 18. Thus the device in a sim )le manner, may be alteredfrom a flat platflorm into a suitable stock rack, the auxiliary frames2O being mounted in place in the sockets 19, as shown in Fig. 1. It willbe seen that when the parts are positioned as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4,the lower portion of the device is securely housed in, so that ananilnal may be safely confined, there being no openings through whichthe animal may thrust a leg, the members 20 coperating with the framework structure of the end gates to define a barrier rising above theside boards 18. Should it be desired to remove the side boards18 fromthe platform portion of the device, one person, standing at the endthereof, may readily withdraw the tie bolts 11, whereby in a singleoperation, each side board 18 may readily be removed.

Referring to the end gate which is shown in Fig. 4, itI will be seenthat either of the pins 44 is adapted to be removed, so that theremaining pin may serve as a pivotal mounting for the barrier portion ofthe end gate. Thus, at the will of the operator, either end of thebarrier may be made the freely swinging end thereof.

Any of the common materials of const-ruction may be employed infashioning the device; the plates 6 being ordinarily of metal, the sidestakes t being fashioned either from metal or from Wood. The hingedconstruction which is secured by the coperation between the plates 6,the sills 2 and the side stakes 4:, permits the ready removal of theside boards 18, and likewise affords a construction in Which a defectiveelement may readily be replaced by a perfect one, at a triling cost.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed is In a device ofthe class described, transverse, terminally slotted sills; side stakes;plates embedded at one end in the stakes and having their other endsremovably mounted in the slots of the sills; securing devices extendedthrough the stakes and the plates; a rod removably inserted through allof the sills to serve as a pivotal mounting for the plates; strapssecured transversely to the Sides of the sills, to reinforce the sameagainst splitting under the leverage of the stakes When the stakes andthe sills are in alinement, the rod being inserted through all of thestraps, each sill having a protruding angle in its end face, adapted tofit in a rentrant angle in the corresponding end face of each stake,When the sills and the 3o stakes are alined.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my ovvn, I have hereto aiXedmy signature in the presence of tvv-o Witnesses.

BRADY MARTIN.

Witnesses:

ROY MARTIN, WM. C. BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

